Wasteland

Recently attending a small exhibition, I have seen very powerful works. Next to the main entrance, there are panoramic photos taken by Henry Fair. From far away, they look aesthetic, beautiful, well composed. As we get closer, we catch sight of a different reality. 

What looks like outstanding colourful skyline photos are in fact waste, chemical plants, arsenic, coal ash and desulfurization, waste pit, etc.

Close by, there are three video-screen made by Chris Jordan. What look like colorful dots turn to be billions of plastic bottles, credit cards and cigarettes butts. 

The common denominator between these two approaches is: what seems to be attractive, aesthetic at first sight turns to be dreadful when we get a close look at it. 

Dodi Reifenberg from Germany has created a relief work with discarded plastic bags snippets and wrappings.

The boy rows in waters submerged by plastic waste. A sad sad situation where a child is rowing in the inferno of an over-polluted sea. 

Chris Jordan has made two other works that turn your stomach upside down.

The camel gastrolith, 2016, depicts the stomach content of a dead camel from some desert. 

Chris said: “My hope with this piece is to create a kind of vigil for one camel, who gave its life to contain this intolerable conglomeration of human detritus. I care about the bigger phenomenon  of desert plastic pollution, and what it mirrors  back to us about the insanity of our disposable culture.” “And equally important for me is the life of this camel, one innocent creature, who, like the albatross, cannot know what we know.”

Albatross, 2017, is Chris Jordan heartbreaking one hour and a half movie witnessing the death of albatross chicks being fed by their mothers not knowing they are giving them nocive plastic waste they bring from the sea. A tragic scenery of love and despair.

Plastic items are swarming all around even in remote places and are rapidly destroying our nature, animal life, everyone’s health.

The museum of the Seam is about bringing controversial themes, interesting and existential themes. 

Unfortunately, this exhibition is like a tiny cosmos, for the ones who visit these premises.

And a big wish would be to reach more consciousnesses.